Impulsivity in Obesity: An Event-Related Potential Investigation

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Impulsivity in Obesity: An Event-Related Potential Investigation Melissa Hayden1* and Emily Kothe1 1 Deakin University, Australia The global obesity epidemic continues to grow with rising obesity rates increasing every year. With a relative lack of successful interventions, research has attempted to discern cognitive components that may be implicated in excessive food consumption and weight gain. Self-regulation has been suggested as one factor which may influence the intention-behaviour discrepancy experienced by individuals who fail to achieve desired weight or weight loss goals. Specifically, impulsivity has been suggested as a behavioural tendency which impairs individual's ability to self-regulate their eating behaviour. To further explore this possibility, the current study aimed to measure risk taking amongst obese and normal weight individuals using the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and to identify the ERP concomitants associated the individual's responses to negative consequences of behaviour which may contribute to risky behaviour. A pilot study of 10 normal weight and 10 obese individuals failed to find any significant between group differences on the BART, however risky responding on the BART was found to correlate with increased BMI. The fERN, was found to be reduced in the obese. Reduced sensitivity to negative feedback may hinder attempts at weight loss as this hyposensitivity affects learning required for behavioural modification as well as effectively assessing consequences required to make accurate and informed decisions regarding food choices. Keywords: Obesity, Weight Gain, impulsivity, ERP, Self-regulation, Risk taking, fERN Conference: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 27 Jul - 31 Jul, 2014. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Cognition and Executive Processes Citation: Hayden M and Kothe E (2015). Impulsivity in Obesity: An Event-Related Potential Investigation. Conference Abstract: XII International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON-XII). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.217.00117 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Feb 2015; Published Online: 24 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Dr. Melissa Hayden, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia, m.hayden@deakin.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Melissa Hayden Emily Kothe Google Melissa Hayden Emily Kothe Google Scholar Melissa Hayden Emily Kothe PubMed Melissa Hayden Emily Kothe Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.